Darius LaVar Miles (born October 9 1981 in Belleville, Illinois) is an American professional basketball player for the NBA's Portland Trail Blazers.
Miles attended East St. Louis High School, and, after failing to receive a qualifying SAT score to attend St. John's University, entered the 2000 NBA Draft. Miles was selected by the Los Angeles Clippers as the 3rd overall pick, which at the time this was the highest a player directly from high school had been drafted. He played his first two seasons with the Clippers, and spent time playing for the Cleveland Cavaliers, before being traded to the Portland Trail Blazers.
During the 2004-05 season, Miles made headlines after a confrontation with then-coach Maurice Cheeks in which he reportedly insulted him with racial slurs and remarked he did not care if the team were to lose the next 20 games since Cheeks was going to be fired anyway.
Miles missed the entire 2006-07 NBA season due to microfracture surgery.
Miles has stated that he will play in the 2007-08 NBA season. He participated in Blazers' practice on December 6, 2007, but it is unknown when he will make his full return. According to Yahoo! Sports, Darius has stated that he is ready to play, while the Blazers have said otherwise. According to sportsline.com, Darius is out until at least mid-march, and could even miss the rest of the season.
